Smartphone Recommendations for Novices

Fire_Fox

My sixty-something parents have agreed to consider a smartphone for Xmas. :cool: Father is a proficient and enthusiastic laptop user but never had nor wanted a mobile. Mother can work a basic PAYG mobile but struggles with her netbook. The precipitating factor is my mother placing or accepting calls whilst driving :eek: she never remembers to find or put the earpiece in and her phone is buried in her handbag. These are brief, necessary calls but illegal regardless!

They require
- Very simple/ intuitive
- Handsfree/ voice activated
- Touchscreen only
- Larger screen than iPhone for use as a satnav (can be a bit unwieldy as a phone)
- Ideally not Windows
- Car holster/ mount available for using satnav/ handsfree
- Can link to laptop for sending prewritten e-mails when travelling
- Can get roaming, particularly for Europe, or easily replace the SIM
- Plenty of free practical apps, not games
- Replace little iPod for audio books, decent memory
- Good quality/ durable/ ongoing support.

They are not big phone users at all, but do travel abroad regularly in their motorhome hence wanting the phone to work outside the UK. Open to PAYG or basic contract. There is no particular budget for an up front purchase, if we get the right smartphone it will last them several years as my iPhone has me.

Any ideas? Thanks!

grumbler

Fire_Fox wrote: »

They require
- Very simple/ intuitive

Pretty much meaningless IMO, but 'intuitive' is the big selling point of Apple and the favourite word of their fans.

- Handsfree/ voice activated
- Touchscreen only

95% of smartphones.

- Larger screen than iPhone for use as a satnav (can be a bit unwieldy as a phone)

Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note.

- Car holster/ mount available for using satnav/ handsfree

Hundreds of universal ones are available and special ones for most spartphones as well. Nokia maps are free and don't require data connection to work. Google maps need data connection. There are many free and pay-for navigation apps for all smartphones that don't need mobile internet.

- Can link to laptop for sending prewritten e-mails when travelling

Tethering is allowed only on some plans, but all smartphones have bluetooth connectivity and USB cables for transferring files. That said, IMO it's a PITA to prepare the text on a laptop and then to sent it from a phone. Much easier to do it on a phone directly, especially as cheap bluetooth keyboards are available for composing big texts.

- Can get roaming, particularly for Europe,

It's the tariff, not the phone

or easily replace the SIM

I don't know any where it is difficult.

- Plenty of free practical apps, not games

1 Appple
2 Android
3 Windows
4 BB

- Replace little iPod for audio books, decent memory

Almost any. Depends on the volume. Phones that take micro SD cards are more flexible.

- Good quality/ durable/ ongoing support.

Best support - Apple.
Durability - there are special more durable smartphones like Motorola Defy, Samsung Xcover etc. And there are plenty of good cases and protectors for all smartphones.

http://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3

T_T_2

There's no mention anywhere in your thread that covers a requirement or desire for a smartphone so why are you buying them something they don't appear to need or want?

wallbash

T_T wrote: »

There's no mention anywhere in your thread that covers a requirement or desire for a smartphone so why are you buying them something they don't appear to need or want?

Because its your parents, you are fed up with buying your father socks he never wears , Mum gets another ornament that needs dusting , and Xmas is a nightmare!

A cheap Smart phone will good on Xmas morning , something to talk about ,might not tick all the boxs for Mum /Dad but it makes xmas a great deal easier for Fire Fox.

Ps could be one of the warmest day of the year this w/e and we are posting about xmas .......that can't be right.

Fire_Fox

T_T wrote: »

There's no mention anywhere in your thread that covers a requirement or desire for a smartphone so why are you buying them something they don't appear to need or want?

As stated "The precipitating factor is my mother placing or accepting calls whilst driving she never remembers to find or put the earpiece in and her phone is buried in her handbag. These are brief, necessary calls but illegal regardless!"

My father has always resisted having a basic mobile phone at all and we've never pushed it, he doesn't think he needs to be available all the time which is fair enough. They have been considering a new satnav, a mobile internet dongle to send e-mails, the iPod is full of audio books .... It seems logical to have one product to do all this, especially in a confined space like a motorhome. At the time of posting they both seem open to the idea of a smartphone and I believe my father will really like it once they have it.

As well as you guys I intend to consult with my sibling who knows more about technie stuff than I but is snowed under at present, and then at least one of my parents will work on the shortlist. If we don't find the right smartphone nothing gets purchased.

forgotmyname

I bet they get fed up of charging a smart phone every night. And the package will need internet access so costs more.

I bet the SIM ends up in a £9.99 supermarket special within 2 weeks.

Got the FIL a basic big button mobile. One button and it dials me. Its never left the charging base.

Fire_Fox

grumbler wrote: »

Pretty much meaningless IMO, but 'intuitive' is the big selling point of Apple and the favourite word of their fans.

Hundreds of universal ones are available and special ones for most spartphones as well. Nokia maps are free and don't require data connection to work. Google maps need data connection. There are many free and pay-for navigation apps for all smartphones that don't need mobile internet.
Tethering is allowed only on some plans, but all smartphones have bluetooth connectivity and USB cables for transferring files. That said, IMO it's a PITA to prepare the text on a laptop and then to sent it from a phone. Much easier to do it on a phone directly, especially as cheap bluetooth keyboards are available for composing big texts.

Thank you, I will look at the phones you mention. :cool:

My father writes diaries and other e-mails on his laptop when he travels, this is what he would want to send when they cannot get wifi. An extra keyboard would take up space in the motorhome and he wouldn't want to use a mobile size screen, he uses a large monitor with his laptop at home. He was originally thinking of getting a mobile internet dongle because a travelling friend has one, but we were hoping to just get a smartphone to do that same job.

Why do you say intuitive is meaningless? Being an iPhone owner doesn't mean I am not open minded to other products and other systems, I got my 3GS for the Nike+ (nothing similar on the market) not because everyone else had one. I don't think the iPhone is right for my parents but I do think the ease of use would suit my mother very well. But I know so little that I don't really understand whether all Android phones are the same to use or really very different.

Guys_Dad

Fire_Fox wrote: »

My sixty-something parents have agreed to consider a smartphone for Xmas. :cool: Father is a proficient and enthusiastic laptop user but never had nor wanted a mobile. Mother can work a basic PAYG mobile but struggles with her netbook. The precipitating factor is my mother placing or accepting calls whilst driving :eek: she never remembers to find or put the earpiece in and her phone is buried in her handbag. These are brief, necessary calls but illegal regardless!

They require
- Very simple/ intuitive
- Handsfree/ voice activated
- Touchscreen only
- Larger screen than iPhone for use as a satnav (can be a bit unwieldy as a phone)
- Ideally not Windows
- Car holster/ mount available for using satnav/ handsfree
- Can link to laptop for sending prewritten e-mails when travelling
- Can get roaming, particularly for Europe, or easily replace the SIM
- Plenty of free practical apps, not games
- Replace little iPod for audio books, decent memory
- Good quality/ durable/ ongoing support.

They are not big phone users at all, but do travel abroad regularly in their motorhome hence wanting the phone to work outside the UK. Open to PAYG or basic contract. There is no particular budget for an up front purchase, if we get the right smartphone it will last them several years as my iPhone has me.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Does anyone else see a disaster waiting to happen and huge roaming bills looming???????

T_T_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

As stated "The precipitating factor is my mother placing or accepting calls whilst driving she never remembers to find or put the earpiece in and her phone is buried in her handbag. These are brief, necessary calls but illegal regardless!"

Not sure how a smart phone will solve this problem. If she needs to make calls in the car legally then it can only be done with a wired earpiece, wireless earpiece or with a car kit. Neither of these require a smart phone. The most advanced piece of technology required is a phone with bluetooth connectivity and even the most basic of phones have this now.

As for the combing of ipod/sat nav etc, I can see how this would require a smart phone. Just be careful though, some of the more entry level smart phones have pretty cheap GPS units, combine that with slower processors and you have something that isn't quite as good as a standalone satnav.

Fire_Fox

forgotmyname wrote: »

I bet they get fed up of charging a smart phone every night. And the package will need internet access so costs more.

I bet the SIM ends up in a £9.99 supermarket special within 2 weeks.

Got the FIL a basic big button mobile. One button and it dials me. Its never left the charging base.

We know it will cost more than the PAYG, but my father would have to pay for a mobile internet dongle anyway and they are far from broke. The mobile aspect will be used by my mother when they are home, to change how she makes calls when driving. If she uses it for her audio books at night it can be charging by her bed, she does carry a basic mobile anyway when she is out and about so it's just a swap. When they are travelling (UK or abroad) it would be used more by my father as satnav and to send emails. I don't see my father carrying a mobile day to day any time soon!

Fire_Fox

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Does anyone else see a disaster waiting to happen and huge roaming bills looming???????

That is why I am asking you experts! Is it better to get a mobile internet dongle instead of tethering then? My father's friend is buying a new SIM in every country.

T_T wrote: »

Not sure how a smart phone will solve this problem. If she needs to make calls in the car legally then it can only be done with a wired earpiece, wireless earpiece or with a car kit. Neither of these require a smart phone. The most advanced piece of technology required is a phone with bluetooth connectivity and even the most basic of phones have this now.

As for the combing of ipod/sat nav etc, I can see how this would require a smart phone. Just be careful though, some of the more entry level smart phones have pretty cheap GPS units, combine that with slower processors and you have something that isn't quite as good as a standalone satnav.

Thanks. Mum has a Bluetooth earpiece for the current basic mobile phone but doesn't ever remember to charge it, carry it, put it in or even how to use it. Hence thinking a phone she can 'speak to' would be better. The calls she makes and receives are short - say exactly when and where to pick me up (I live in a city centre), or my father asking her to buy some onions - so it doesn't need to be the greatest quality conversation.

I am envisaging mum getting in the car and putting the phone into it's holster/ mount instead of leaving it in her handbag. Then she can use it as a phone or satnav. I am sure she will forget initially .... but she can't carry on how she is, it is illegal and dangerous.